Sapphire HD 5570 1GB Review

Introduction:

With the recent introduction of ATI's mainstream graphics cards, more users will be able to take advantage of features such as DX 11 and Eyefinity, but the question is do these budget-friendly graphics cards have enough power to utilize all of the features they come equipped with? To answer this question, we will be looking at the HD 5570 graphics card from Sapphire. This card comes with 1GB DDR3 memory, a 128-bit memory interface, 400 shader cores and 16 ROPs. With these specifications, the HD 5570 seems to be a very capable card and it should be able to run most current games on the market - at least at low resolutions. Also, with the use of ATI's stream technology, this graphics card should be well equipped to handle smooth HD playback, as well as photo and video editing. One of the more interesting features of the HD 5570 is that even with all the technology and power packed into this card it is still a low profile design that only draws a maximum load of 45 watts. This could make the card very popular in the HTPC market and if the performance holds up, it could be a great choice for budget gamers. Of course, we will have to put it through our series of demanding benchmarks before a real conclusion can be drawn.

Closer Look:

The HD 5570 packaging comes in a red and black box with a style to it that looks similar to other products Sapphire has recently released. The front panel of the packing comes with Ruby aiming at her enemies with a futuristic looking blaster. Below her, Sapphire has listed some of the technologies that come standard with the HD 5570 graphics card. Each technology comes listed in its own box and are ATI Stream GPU processing, on-board Display port, CrossFireX™, and the 40nm die size. The front of the box also has the memory size and type listed near the top, with the graphics card name below it. The reverse side the box has listed features and specifications that the card offers, as well as a run down of how they are beneficial. Above these technology boxes is a sticker indicating the card comes with low profile bracket converters, SIM HD plug-in and 1GB DDR3 memory. The back panel of the box again has an image of Ruby, but this panel is also filled with useful information. Here you will find a run-down of features such as DX 11, CrossFireX and others. Sapphire has also included some images of the online awards they have received over the last eight years.

Once you have the outer sleeve off, you are presented with a plain cardboard box with a small recycling logo on the bottom left corner. This inner packaging is where graphics card and accessories are located and are securely held in place by the use of a extra cardboard insert inside the box. The graphics card comes wrapped in a anti-static bag with the drivers CD and installation manual laying on top of it. The accessories are also packaged here, but are located on the opposite side of the box.

The HD 5570 comes with only a few accessories which are a manual, driver CD, SimHD plug-in CD and two low profile bracket converters. There really is no need for any accessories beyond what is included though, as the graphics card has both a DVI and VGA port for connectivity. So, even without extra video adapters, there is still more than enough here to get you connect and ready to go.

Now that we have explored the packaging and accessories, we can start our more in depth look at the Sapphire HD5570.